The current corruption crisis zeroing in on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyio Erdogan has all the elements of one of his country's famous soap operas that tens of millions of people all over the Middle East tune in to each day: Bribes, shoe boxes filled with millions in cash, and dark whispers of foreign conspiracies.

It's the same old story, the Central African Republic is one of the richest countries in Africa and one of the poorest in the world. Vast wealth is extracted but not enough comes in to maintain stability and growth.